Fundamentals of Sales Management: For the Newly Appointed Sales Manager

Working with People with Different Styles

There are two key strategies that you can use when interacting with others—adapting and complementing.

Adapting (or flexing) to other people’s styles means that you are mirroring or imitating their styles. Adapting strategies are more appropriate when people are performing effectively or when you are trying to motivate or influence them. As discussed, your style or combination of styles as well as the style(s) around you each have their own more typical strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, not only is it important to recognize the types of situations and people that possess styles best suited to yours, but you must learn to flex your style in order to work with the myriad of other styles and combinations ...